


Tale of a Princess

by windeavesdrops



Category: Original Work
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Dubious Consent, Espionage, Magic, Multi, Panic Attacks, Rebellion, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-08 10:49:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17385098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windeavesdrops/pseuds/windeavesdrops
Summary: A long missing princess is found and returned to her kingdom. That’s in the middle of a rebellion. How nice.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a thing? It’s a novel, an original work. I don’t know what I’m doing? If anyone actually sees this, feel free to leave a comment :)

It had taken Opal four long years to feel comfortable walking into town for her weekly grocery trip. Granted walking along a mostly deserted state highway wasn’t the smartest of decisions but she felt safer on the road than in the woods. The bitterly cold October air cut straight through Opal’s sweatshirt and Opal felt the faint stirrings of regret for not accepting Wren’s offer of a ride earlier that day. Opal didn’t mind the cold, she preferred it to the overly warm summers but town was another hours walk walk away and the way the wind was insistently plowing into her, she’d be solid ice by the time she reached Josie’s.

Visiting Josie was the highlight of going into town. Josie was her staunchest supporter and self proclaimed crazy aunt because apparently Opal had been let down too many times by a mother, biological or foster. Opal silently agreed, though it was hard for her to accept that Josie wanted to watch out for her and help her and care for her. In the end It was easier for Opal to understand and accept an enthusiastic foster aunt than a foster mother. And Josie was nearly perfect. She ran a quaint little motel with a diner attached in town and therefore was the unofficial face of the small forgotten town deep in the Montana mountains. The diner was known for having the best coffee within a fifty mile radius but Opal’s favorite was a spicy cinnamon tea Josie always had on hand. At first it started as a reward, if Opal ventured from her house to Josie’s diner, she would get a cup of tea. As time progressed and Opal gained her independence, the tea became a way for Opal to visit and speak quietly to Josie about her week and the things she was learning from her books. Oftentimes, a gentle hug from Josie came with the tea and as time passed Opal cherished the embraces.

Just as she predicted, Opal was practically a popsicle by the time she walked into Josie’s diner, but was met with Carolyn, Josie’s teenage daughter.  
“ Opal! Did you really walk here from your house?”

  
Opal shrugged, slipping her massive hiking backpack off and setting it in the opposite side of the booth tucked into the corner. “I still haven’t taken the drivers class in Bozeman, Carolyn.”

  
“But you’re over twenty one so you can just go to the office and take the exam! You don’t have to take the class.” Carolyn protested as she pulled down the fox teacup Opal always used. Praying open the tin, she dumped five hasty spoonfuls of varying sizes of the tea into a bright yellow teapot. After filling the garish teapot with hot water, Carolyn carefully walked the teapot and teacup over to Opals booth.

  
“I want to take the class. I do not have the slightest idea on how a car works remember?” Opal leaned forward a little and wrapped her hands around the warm teapot. “Besides. I’m not twenty one.”

  
“What do you mean you’re not?” Carolyn stared at Opal flabbergasted. The wide eyes and raised eyebrows looked comical on Carolyn’s sweet face.

  
“I’m only twenty Carolyn.”

  
“But that means you were only seventeen when you came back.” Carolyn’s words pierced Opal. She was a sweet girl, she really was, bright smiles and kind words but Carolyn was terribly naive and innocent to the horrors Opal had been exposed to as a child. Taking a deep breath and Opal poured herself tea while she attempted to quell the sudden flurry of panic in her mind. She held her breath longer than advisable and let it out in a quiet, but steady stream.  
“Yes. But like your mother says, the past is to be learned fr—“

  
“Learned from but not lived in, I know I remember.” Carolyn interjected with a subtle roll of her eyes. “Speaking of Mama, though, apparently we have a couple of tourists visiting. Made reservations and everything.”

  
“What are tourists doing here?” The fear that Opal hadn’t quite managed to calm flared back to life. No one visited their tiny town. The last visitor they had was a family of five who only stopped and stayed at Josie’s because the littlest girl had a twenty four hour stomach bug. And even then, the family only ventured out to diner. They even checked out early and were long gone by the time the sun was in the sky.

  
“Beats me. Mama said one of them mentioned that they were looking for family. Maybe it’s someone from another reservation.” Carolyn replied with a yawn and just like that the fear rising in Opal’s heart begins to recede. If the newcomers were looking for family, no one would be looking for her.

Opal hums in agreement and sips her tea as Carolyn starts chattering about the boy at school she has a crush on and whether or not he’s noticed her. After a half hour, Opal finished the pot, used the toilet and carefully placed the teacup and teapot on the main counter so Sam, Carolyn’s younger brother can bus them back to the kitchen. “Please tell your mother I said hello.”

Opal endures a bear hug from Sam and Carolyn smiles and squeezes her hand.  
“I always do. And don’t worry about the visitors. I don’t think you’ll even run into each other.”

 

Funnily enough, Opal ran into the visitors on her way to the small grocery store. There were four of them, three men and a woman, though still fairly young. They were coming out of the library, the woman leading the men and looking annoyed.

  
“I told you it was the city hall we needed to go to if we wanted to talk to someone in authority!” The woman snapped at the man walking beside her. They both had the same warm complexion and glossy black hair that was common with the people she had seen visiting from the reservation. Maybe they were just here looking for bits and pieces of history then. Hammond, a regular at Josie’s had told Opal about some battle that his great grandfather had fought in apparently close to where Opals house now stood. Some of the anxiety Opal carried unwound from her heart. It was kind of Carolyn to warn her but no one ever bothered with her.

  
“Excuse me!” The sudden shout made Opal jump. The youngest of the group was jogging towards her, a wide friendly smile on his face. He was much fairer than the other two and impossibly pretty. Golden blond hair spilled down his back in loose waves, long eyelashes framed blue, doe like eyes. He was bundled up well for the weather but that didn’t hide his obvious strength. In a way, he reminded Opal of a jaguar, distractingly beautiful while being one of the most vicious hunters.

“Hello! Sorry to bother you but we’re new around here and we hoped you could point us the right direction to City Hall?”  
His voice was light and joyful, immediately softening the assumptions Opal had begun to form. Josie always told her she was judging people too fast and that most people would rather be kind than cruel. It brought a small smile to her face.

  
“Uhm, sure.” Opal hitched her pack higher on her back. “Do you see the building behind the library, with the old fire escape on the side?” She asked pointing across the street, the rusted staircase clinging to the side half hidden behind a cluster of aspen trees. “It is a little difficult to see. The trees are providing camouflage.”

“Yes! I see it!” Caspian exclaimed enthusiastically.

  
“City Hall is just in front of it across the street. The building is a little smaller so you can’t see it from here. The Mayor and a bunch of the councilors are in until four o’clock.” Opal couldn’t help the small smile lingering on her face. The man was utterly radiant in his happiness and it rubbed off on Opal, lightening her worries and anxieties. Two minutes in this strangers company and she felt completely happy in a way she never had before. It was nice to be proved wrong.

  
“Thank you so much, miss?” He extended his hand, his smile growing in his silent question of her name.

  
“Opal. And you are?” She took his lightly and gave a cursory shake.

  
“Caspian. And those two,” he pointed to the man and woman bickering quietly but walking closer, “are my brother and sister Zayn and Zahra.”

  
“She was just telling me how to get to city hall!” Caspian waved excitedly beckoning his siblings closer. Fear clenched low in Opal’s stomach, her mind screaming that there was something off with Caspian’s family.

Normally the addition of a female would have lessened her growing panic but Zahra looked like an Amazon warrior, fierce and determined, and more intimidating than most men Opal had encountered. Zayn possessed a quiet intensity, a good match for who appeared to be a twin sister. It was odd then that Caspian was related to the two striking siblings if only because how different he was, all bright smiles and glowing sunshine, while the twins exuded a darker aura. But the sudden appearance of siblings, all bigger than her dredged up old memories and long forgotten anxieties. Her breath caught in her throat and then her mind was racing to conceal any weakness, while her instincts screamed that she needed to run.

  
Dragging up the last of her energy, Opal pasted on a wider smile and glanced between the three visitors, locking down her sudden and irrational fear she said,  
“I’m sorry but if you all don’t need anything else, I have a few errands to run.”

  
Caspian and Zayn both stepped back, giving her a clear path to the sidewalk, overlapping thanks with apologies while Zahra gave her an odd look. With a quiet thank you and a few hurried steps away, Opal realized she could breathe again, filling her lungs with cold sweet autumn air.

  
“Thank you again for tellig me the way, Opal.” At the sound of her name, Opal turned and saw Caspian waving, a much smaller smile on his face. Guilt and even a bit of shame was eating away the last remaining bits of panic. Had she been horribly rude? Most of the time Opal relished her time spent alone, but on these occasions she cursed her inability to interact normally with other people. She took a small step forward, wanting to apologize, to somehow restore Caspian to his former happy radiance. But she had no idea how to do that. And now she felt like she was going to cry. Her heart in her throat, she waved back then turned and struggled to not break into a run.

 

It was a little over a week before Opal thought about the odd visitors again. She’d woken up that morning to Sheriff Thorne pounding on her front door, arms full of grocery bags, insisting she remain home today. It wasn’t as if she had any plans to venture into town that day, but her curiosity was sparked.

  
“Is there a storm passing through? It doesn’t feel cold enough for snow yet.” She asked, setting the groceries on the counter and offering a chair to the sheriff. He sat heavily, setting his hat on the small wooden table.

  
“No, not a storm. Do you still have the rifle I gave you last year?” Opal froze with a bundle of bananas in her hands.

  
“Yes. I still have it.” Opal replied slowly. “And the boxes of ammunition. What happened?”

  
“There’s a visitor in town. Josie said he made a reservation for almost a week.”

  
“Oh!” The breath Opal hadn’t realized she’d been holding whooshed out. “Is is one of the visitors from before?”  
She asked, thinking of Caspian and his siblings. Wrapping her sweater tighter about her, Opal refused to think about what could have happened that put the town on edge. Sheriff Thorne, however looked unnervingly grave sitting at her kitchen table.

  
“No. This man is a new guest at Josie's but she’s sent Carolyn and Sam to Bozeman for the week. She sent me here actually. I was planning on letting Cressida bring your groceries because she wanted to catch up with you but Josie was very insistent that I tell you what was happening.” The sheriff leaned forward in his chair and gestured for Opal to take the other. “Some of the other women are sending the grown kids off with the little ones as well. There’s something not right with the man.”

  
Opal was well versed in the towns hate for her, as irrational as it was, but in the four years she’d been back, she never heard of anyone in town running scared. Bitterness writhed in her chest, screaming how unfair it was to hear how everyone was scrambling to protect their children when they had just stood aside and let Opal go without a fight. But Opal refused to let it take root and summarily ignored it. She had people watching out for her now. Her childhood had been a nightmare but it wasn’t now. She was safe here.

  
“Did he say why he was here?”

  
“He told Josie he was looking for a girl.”

Nausea rose up and tickled the back of her throat. The sheriff grimaced in agreement.

“That’s when she decided to send Carolyn away. So lock up well. Keep your rifle near. Don’t go into the woods until this guy is long gone. I’ll come by once he’s gone.” The sheriff said brusquely, standing up. Despite the odd and slightly frightening circumstances, Opal smiled a bit, touched by thoughtfulness to warn her. He and Josie were the only ones in town that tried to check in or look after Opal. And she appreciated it.

  
“I will do that.” Opal murmured as she followed the sheriff outside. “Thank you for the warning. Please tell Cressida that I miss her and little Andromeda.”

  
“I’ll tell her. Keep to the house until this fellow has passed through. Give me a call if anything feels off.” The sheriff gave a her wave before driving back towards town.

  
Opal let out a sigh and dropped her forehead to the door. It was going to be a long week.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm a couple warnings. Some violence, creepy language and small encounter with suicidal ideation. 
> 
> That being said, enjoy!

It was seven minutes to midnight when she woke up three days after the sheriff came by her house. There wasn’t any one thing Opal could say that woke her up, except for the feeling that something that something was wretchedly off. She slid out of bed and dressed in the dark, pulling her jeans on over her thermals and slipping her head through her favorite emerald sweater. As she bent to lace her boots, Opal was grateful she'd braided her hair back before falling asleep earlier. Bells tolling midnight broke the silence the cloaked her home. She didn’t own a grandfather clock. And there was not a bell tower in the church in town. The unease that woke her began creeping towards panic. 

 

Taking a deep breath, Opal crossed her room on tip toe and carefully unlatched her window, trying to muffle any unnecessary noise. Her bedroom overlooked the front of the house and if she leaned to the side a bit, Opal could see her front door. Steeling herself, she eased the window open and looked toward the front of the house and nothing. There wasn’t anything unusual or out of order.

“That’s odd.” Opal stood taller and leaned out the window. When she still couldn’t see anything, she slid the window shut, annoyed with herself for getting so worked up. 

The whirling shadow stretched over an impossibly long body with cavernous eye sockets and a sickening Cheshire grin. It was the strangest thing she’d ever seen and the most frightening. The logical part of her mind was scrambling to make sense of the monster she was seeing but there was nothing, nothing, that she’d ever read, seen or heard about that even remotely resembled the creature clinging to the outside of her house. Opal stumbled backwards into her room, watching in horror as the skeleton loosed a sickening smile broke out on its face, showing off its needle sharp teeth in a too large mouth. Opal was petrified, rooted to the floor in shock. Was this a nightmare? A hallucination? Her mind reeled with all the possible mental breakdowns she could be having that would produce such a monster when the piercing shriek of its nails against the glass as it clawed throw her window shattered the trance Opal fell into. Scrambling to her feet, she fell through her door, running for the stairs. She hardly dared to breathe as she flew down the steps heading for the back door. 

 

"Did my Jack of All scare you little princess?" A rich but mocking voice had Opal turning so fast she tripped over her own feet and fell, knocking the wind out of herself. Adrenaline still ran high in her veins and the sudden inability to draw a breath had her flight exploding into panic. She scuttled backward, staring at the man slowly stalking towards her, fighting desperately trying to breathe. The monster that climbed through her window hovered behind him, larger than life, clicking its talon like fingers together. A whimper escaped her throat, signaling the return of air and a choked scream was ripped from her when the creature suddenly leaped forward. 

 

“Allow the girl to breathe!” The man snapped and with a wave of his hand, the creature turned to smoke that dissipated into nothing. All Opal could do was stare in panicked confusion and try to take in regular breaths. The intruder kept his distance, watching Opal curled on the floor with what looked like vicious glee. 

"Who are you? What was that thing?" She asked shakily, holding a hand out to ward the stranger away when the man came to close for her liking. 

 

"So skittish! Tsk tsk tsk. My name is Amun. And yours, princess, is Eleanor Blackthorn." Amun's voice, while alluring, had a lethal mocking edge that made Opal’s hair stand on end when he mentioned her birth name. Eleanor Blackthorn was the name written on her birth certificate but the name Opal had been a gift surprisingly from Cressida. A new name for a new home. Something about his voice was familiar but it twisted Opal’s stomach.

 

"What do you want?" She asked, slowly getting to her feet, leaning heavily on her bookshelf. Amun tracked her every moved. Everything about this man made her feel so off balance.

 

"For you to come home." Amun announced, like it was the simplest request, trailing his fingers over the impressive row of bookshelves as he stalked closer to her.

"This is my home." Opal countered, feeling some of her confused panic settle. “And I want you to leave.” 

"Oh you misunderstand me, I’m here for you, princess. I’ve been looking for you for twenty long years and I’ll not leave without you." That was the second time he called her princess. What was he talking about? She wasn’t a princess And how could he have been looking for her for twenty years? He barely looked older than she was. Questions and doubts swarmed in her mind like a furious hive of bees. 

"Get out of my house." Opal ordered, her voice barely above a whisper, panic and confusion a toxic potion swirling in her blood. A pulsing headache took up residence behind her eyes and Opal could barely concentrate on Amun in front of her. 

A decidedly deviant glint washed over his unusually golden eyes and a cruel grin displayed very white teeth, a stark contrast from the warmth of his skin. It was painful to look at him, much like staring at the sun for too long. 

 

"Not without you princess."

 

Opal blanched and was almost sick at his words. It was as if his very presence was poisoning her. But she collected her frayed nerves with a shaky inhale as she surreptitiously grabbed one of her books she left on top of the bookcase. "I am not going anywhere with you." 

 

“It is time for you to return to your family.” Surprisingly, Amun replied in a simple, matter of fact tone. The grin had slipped from his features and Amun almost looked disappointed that she kept herself together. “Are you going to be difficult?”

 

Opal held herself together as she watched him resume his predatory stalk towards her until he was a little less than arms reach from her.

 

“I’m not going anywhere.” Grabbing her book with two hands she slammed the spine against his temple as hard as she could before she bolted out the back door, barely having the presence of mind to pull it shut after her. Without glancing back, Opal ran at full tilt into the forest behind her home.

 

The wind picked up fiercely, kicking up the golden aspen leaves and tearing her hair from the braid to tangle in her face as she ran through the thicket, looking for somewhere, anywhere to hide. 

Opal hadn’t been running long when she stuttered to a stop, anxiety and adrenaline choking her. Collapsing to her knees, she fought to take in a breath, the cold air pricking her skin like needles as she clawed at the ground. The adrenaline that fueled her flight had long since faded and she was slowly going into shock. As soon as she got a bit of her breath back, Opal found herself clinging to a tree, vomiting what felt like the contents of her stomach, her liver, kidneys and lungs. After a last horrid mouthful of bile, she barely managed to get to her feet, exhausted, cold and now sickly feeling. 

 

"You didn’t even run very far." No trace of the malevolent deviance in his voice that had scared her earlier. Instead he was pouting, whining like spoiled child that was denied his favorite toy. "I thought you were going to be difficult."

 

Opal shrank away from Amun, stumbling over a root and nearly falling. Difficult. Had he said that before? Echoes of past foster parents sounded in her ears. Difficult, they said. Difficult to love, difficult to teach, difficult to understand. A difficult child, take her away. Old fears crept into her mind threatening to cripple her. Tears pricked that the back of Opal’s eyes and she fought desperately to remain present, keeping distance between her and Amun as she forcibly locked away memories that were threatening to undo her. She needed her wits about her. 

"There’s money in the house. In a safe, in the kitchen. The combination is —“

 

“Foolish girl! I don’t want your money. I want you!” Amun lunged forward and caught hold of her wrist, dragging her towards him, a nasty expression crossing his face. 

"Let me go!" She shrieked, lashing out with her free hand and trying to twist her hand free as adrenaline trickled back into her system.

 

"Stop fighting me, princess." Amun yanked her to him, manhandling her so her back was pressed to his chest, pinning her arms to her sides. Opal writhed in his grasp, trying to scratch and kick anything in her limited reach. 

“It would be better for you if you just submit to me.” He breathed into her ear before licking the length of her throat. Opal froze; she couldn’t think. A choked gasp caught in Opal’s chest when Amun buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply. “See? All you needed was some affection and you’re docile as a pretty lamb.”

"No." Opal murmured, resuming her struggles. “No. No! I don’t want this!”

She slammed her head backward and was rewarded with a crunching sound. Amun howled in pain, his hand flying to his nose. By then it was child’s play for Opal to break out of his grip and bolt through the trees. If she could make it to the old trail that ran behind the school, Opal could be at Josie’s in no time. 

The full moon illuminated enough of the forest that Opal was able to shakily navigate the woods, remembering Cressida’s directions on the trails that criss crossed all over town. All the trails led to town, she’d said. That way no one would truly be lost in the woods. Opal hadn’t believed her and rarely took the trails into town, the dense forest reminding her too much of Travis’s cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains. Now her only hope was to get to town before Amun caught up with her. 

“Opal? Opal what are you doing out so late?” Josie stood outside the front door of the diner, staring in shock as Opal darted out of the woods. 

"Someone broke into my house, a man in a suit, he chased me through the woods." Opal babbled between panting breaths, crumpling into Josie’s embrace. Her natural petrichor scent soothed Opal’s frayed nerves as Josie unlocked the door and slid inside, twisting the blinds shut. 

"Need to call Sheriff. Lock the door! Lock the door." Opal gasped, reaching for the door, frightened Amun would just waltz right in.

"Door’s locked Opal. I’m so sorry this is happening. Carson was afraid this Amun character would try something. Neither of us even considered that you’d even be on his radar since You hadn’t come to town. Come, you sit here," Josie murmured helping her to her feet and guided Opal to her booth in the corner. Bringing back a couple water bottles Josie set them in front of her. Ever so gently, she brushed the stray tendrils of hair away from Opal’s face and Opal nearly started crying. Her whole body was on edge and she felt seconds away from shattering. Josie smiled, sorrow heavy in her eyes. "I’ll go call Sheriff. Then we can have some tea while you catch your breath."

 

Opal nestled herself in the corner of the booth as she tried to catch her breath. She listened to the sound of Josie in the kitchen, filling the kettle and setting on the stove, the sound of buttons being pushed on the phone. Soft footsteps and a low murmur of voices that was too far away from her to understand. Once her breathing evened out Opal started practicing the breathing techniques Josie had taught her years ago. She was safe in Josie’s diner. The sheriff would be on his way to arrest Amun. No one was going to come steal her away. Not a monster, not her previous foster father Travis and certainly not some weirdo named for an Egyptian god that looked like an extra from ancient Egypt history special that Sam loves to watch. She was safe. Safe in a tiny Montana town. 

The shriek of the kettle boiling jolted Opal out of her thoughts. When Josie didn’t automatically appear to turn off the stove, Opal quietly walked back and flicked the knob on the kettle to silence it. 

“Josie?” Opal called. The silence that answered her worried. Wandering slowly through the kitchen, she let out a sigh when she saw Josie leaning against the side door, phone pressed to her ear. Tentatively, Opal asked, "What did Sheriff Thorne say about Amun?"

 

When Josie didn’t answer, Opal stepped closer and crushed a large crinkly aspen leaf under her foot. Odd. The side door was open and leaves were swirling around Josie’s ankles. But Josie didn’t have aspen trees near the diner. Carolyn had a slight phobia of the trees, convinced they had eyes and were watching her. "Josie."

 

The phone slipped from her hand, the dial tone ringing through the headset. "Josie?" Opal gently laid her hand on Josie's arm, trying to get her attention. Had Sheriff given her bad news? Was someone else in town hurt? It wasn’t like her to ignore Opal. 

That wasn’t it at all. As soon as Opal tugged Josie's arm, her head toppled from her shoulders, spraying blood all over the walls, ceiling and Opal. It rolled across on the ground and bumped Opal's boot. Opal could only watch in mute horror as Josie's long hair unraveled from around her head, revealing the sight of Josie's cold, empty eyes. It wasn’t until the door creaked open revealing the grinning skeleton of before that Opal started screaming. 

Glancing at her hands, and seeing them covered in Josie's blood, she automatically backed away, her shrieks of horror escalating to ear piercing hysterics. What was she supposed to do? Had Josie even called the sheriff? The creature slid past the door into the kitchen with Opal, it’s talons dragging along the ground. 

The blood was rapidly spreading across the kitchen and in her haste to get away, Opal slipped and fell to her hands and knees in Josie's hot thick blood. Sobs were now intermingled with her screams as she shot to her feet and backed away from the sight of her friend's corpse and lifeless eyes. 

 

She had nearly left the kitchen when she was grabbed from behind and effortlessly lifted off her feet. "You shouldn’t have run Princess. Now I’m angry." Amun growled, hefting her effortlessly over his shoulder and walking back towards His monster and the side door. 

“No! No! You monster, you killed her!” Opal struggled, landing one good blow to Amun’s stomach. “Let me go!”

“No princess, I told you. You’re coming with me.” Amun grunted, stepping around the blood still spreading from Josie’s corpse. Frantic, Opal reaches for a knife on the countertop, unbalancing a cursing Amun in the process. Pain shoots up her arm as she hits the ground hard but she twists and drives the kitchen knife deep into Amun’s side. 

“I said no.” Opal muttered as Amun screamed. Amun’s monster turned once more to smoke and Opal scrambled to her feet and disappeared out the side door.

 

The seven mile stretch to her house felt like seventy. The blood that had soaked Opal's hair and clothes had long ago cooled and felt like it was beginning to freeze, the cold permeating to her bones. Less than a mile from home, Opal couldn’t take the cold any longer and wandered off the road to sit against a fence post, tucking her icy fingers into her armpits and hunching her shoulders against the wind. She was so tired and so cold. The last time Opal remembered being this cold, she was half dead floating down a river in the middle of winter. 

Maybe it hadn’t been the smartest idea to leave town but she didn’t know how mobile Amun would be but she doubted he’d be up for the long trek back to her house since she didn’t see any evidence of a car. Besides, the only place she felt truly safe in town was Josie’s. And that would never be an option for her again. 

“My, my, my, What a delightful treat you’ll make to my prince.” A voice that sounded eerily like leaves rustling in the wind jolted Opal from her thinking. She sat up automatically, looking for the source of the rasping. Getting to her feet, she glanced up and down the road before facing the woods.

For the most part, Opal liked the aspen trees that surrounded her home. The rich golden leaves looked nothing like the evergreens that haunted her nightmares. She even liked the spots that Carolyn were eyes, Opal liked how it made each tree unique when all the colors bled together. But as she searched the tree line for whoever was talking to her, Opal felt something off. The natural eyespots on the trees were shifting back and forth, and twitching, as if they were blinking. On a reflex, Opal wiped her fingers over her eyes, convinced her eyes were playing tricks on her. But when she looked at the trees again, the spots were definitely moving. And something was...peeling away the bark from the tree in impossibly long strips. Fascinated but horrified, Opal could only watch as piles of bark stood up and took on a humanoid shape.

 

"What the hell?" Opal whispered in disbelief, stepping away from the decrepit fence and the creatures peeling themselves off all the surrounding trees.

 

"A human child, touched by the moon herself. Such a lovely, lovely treat. My prince will be most grateful indeed." The speaking creature looked slightly different from the rest. It didn’t quite have a mouth, just a tear in the bark that opened into a grotesque mockery of a mouth. The voice was neither male, nor female but more animal, words accompanied by snaps and creaks. The creatures arms were unnaturally long, with large curved branches at the ends of its fingers, that looked unsettlingly like a scythe. The creatures moved with a fluidity and grace the rooted trees themselves lacked. And Opal suddenly remembered spirits sometimes resided in trees in old fairytales and mythology. But dryads were typically prettier than these. 

“Our prince will be pleased, yes. Such a pretty princess we retrieved for him.” 

Words wouldn’t form in her mouth. The horde of dryads were almost within arms reach now but Opal remained frozen by the fence, curiously detached, watching the creatures stalk forward. The leader extended one long arm towards Opal, sliding it’s scythe around her waist. 

“Come with us princess.” The dryad tugged her closer and Opal couldn’t find the will to fight back. This couldn’t be real. The whole night had to be a nightmare. And if by some insane chance it wasn’t, perhaps her death lay with these strange creatures. Maybe then Opal would find a modicum of peace. 

So when the dryad laid it’s odd branch hand over her mouth, it’s fingers covered in bright red flowers, Opal didn’t fight and slipped quickly into unconsciousness.


End file.
